Potlatch storms back to claim Whitepine League district crown over Clearwater Valley

TL;DR

Potlatch rallied to defeat Clearwater Valley 16-11, winning the Whitepine League softball district championship. The team showed resilience, coming back from an 11-7 deficit in the fifth inning.

Key points

Potlatch won the Whitepine League softball district championship
Final score was 16-11 against Clearwater Valley
Potlatch rallied from an 11-7 deficit
Game held at Genesee Softball Field
Coach Dean Butterfield praised the team's performance

Mentioned in this story

Genesee Softball Field

PotlatchClearwater ValleyWhitepine League

May 6—GENESEE — Down but not done.

Potlatch flipped the game when it mattered the most and rallied late to beat Clearwater Valley of Kooskia 16-11 and capture the Whitepine League softball district tournament championship Tuesday at the Genesee Softball Field.

Loggers coach Dean Butterfield said that the team played "smart softball" and the batters were patient at the plate, and when the team needed hits late in the game, the players delivered.

Even down 11-7 to the Rams after the end of the fifth inning, Butterfield said he wasn't too worried.

"I knew we still had it," Butterfield said. "These girls can come alive at any time, and we just needed to get it ignited. Once they got going, that was pretty slick."

The comeback

The Loggers (16-4) held a 7-3 lead after the top of the fourth inning.

Then the Rams (14-4) clapped back with two straight four-run innings, first to tie the game up at 7-7 at the end of the fourth and then to take an 11-7 lead at the end of the fifth frame.

That's when Potlatch began its storm toward the win.

To open up the sixth inning, Oliva Smith hit a single, Reese Lusby hit a pop-up to the second baseman for the first out and then Daycee Fry singled to center field, but both Smith and Fry advanced to second and third on the throw.

A groundout followed.

Then, Elena Vowels hit a double to the right-field line to score two runs.

Suddenly, the lead was cut to two runs at 11-9.

Vowels said that when the Loggers were down, it was "nerve-wracking," but at the same time, they have come back from bigger deficits before. She said Potlatch was capable of coming back, and with a new inning came a new team.

"I was like, 'We're gonna do it,'" Vowels said. "I was like, 'We're going (to do it), we're not giving up.' We have that momentum going for us, and we were cheering loud and we believed in every single one of us."

What followed was a Rylee Tucker infield single toward the shortstop, and then she stole second to put runners on second and third.

Brynlee Breeze singled to center field, and a run scored to make it 11-10.

Potlatch was knocking on the door.

With a 3-1 count down one run in the district championship game, freshman Cameran Lynas came up to bat and hit a double to left field, scoring two runs and giving Potlatch a 12-11 lead.

Another runner landed on base and Smith gave the Loggers insurance runs, smashing a triple deep to the left-field wall.

Smith said her approach at the plate was aggressive because Clearwater Valley pitcher Riley Parsons was throwing strikes, and Smith had to "get in there and do (her) job."

"We always say we got to play team ball, and so that's what I did," Smith said. "I got up to the plate, did stuff for my team. We needed those runs, and that was my job, so that's what I did."